Bumper Stickers Seen on the Popemobile
I can’t take credit for this – I received this list in an email from http://www.catholicity.com. Enjoy!
Question Authority. Ask Me Anything
Infallibility on Loan from God
God REALLY IS My Co-Pilot
Honk if You Pray the Rosary
Choose ETERNAL Life
Speak Softly and Carry a Big Cross
All Roads Lead to Rome
Say Mass, Not War
Give Me Confession or Give Me Death
I Brake for Souls
Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss
Bible On Board
My Other Car is Also a Popemobile
From Germany With Love
I’ll Never Get to Meet the Pope Because I Am the Pope
Livin’ the Vida Papa!
Hang Up and Pray
Sin Happens
Make My Day. Kiss My Ring!
I’d Rather Be Saying Mass
Honor Student in the College of Cardinals
Vatican clears East Hanover priest of sex abuse charges
by admin on September 20, 2009
in Catholic Life
An East Hanover church pastor has been vindicated of sexual abuse allegations by the Vatican, which upheld his exoneration following a church trial by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson, according to a statement by the diocese.
Monsignor William McCarthy, formerly of St. Rose of Lima Church in East Hanover, was suspended from the ministry six years ago following claims that he abused two girls 23 years ago.
He now “is a priest in good standing and is free to exercise his priestly ministry as a retired priest,” according to a statement released Wednesday to priests and deacons by Monsignor James T. Mahoney.
A Falsely Accused Priest – Exonerated After Six Years
by admin on September 19, 2009
in Catholic Life
This is the true story about a priest who was falsely accused of abusing minors who was exonerated by a Vatican tribunal. You see, this priest is particularly significant to me – he was my parish priest for almost 20 years. He also introduced me to my wife.
Msgr. William McCarthy was just entering retirement when someone sent a letter to local law enforcement authorities which made these accusations. Now this occurred during the height of the sexual abuse scandal. During the investigation, Msgr. McCarthy was suspended from his priestly faculties. It was an absolutely horrible experience for him – a man who has devoted his life to serving God and His people.
After being found innocent by the Vatican tribunal, my parish, Saint Rose of Lima Church in East Hanover, NJ, was finally able to give him a proper send-off. We, the parishioners, were finally given a chance to say good-bye, wish him well in his retirement, and most importantly celebrate his victory with him. This return to Saint Rose coincided with the 40th anniversary of his ordination as a priest. On this day, the church was packed and filled with excitement. At the beginning of Mass, he entered the church accompanied by a Knights of Columbus honor guard. I remember thinking that I couldn’t even imagine the pope having a more grand and emotional entrance.
Saint John Southworth
by Mike on August 6, 2009
in Roaming Catholic
In the early 1990s, I took a business trip to England. I planned to spend an extra day in London at the end of my trip. Whenever I visit major cities in Europe, I make an effort to visit their cathedral. Of course I’ve heard of Westminster Abbey, and normally I would have visited there. However, I learned there was also a Catholic cathedral – Westminster Cathedral – in the city as well. I chose to stop by there for a visit instead.
I’m always impressed by the architecture and filled with awe at how a building can lift your spirits. I always think about the people who worked to build the cathedral. Since the construction typically spans much more than one lifetime, most of the workers were never able to see the completed strucutre. During my visit to Westminster Cathedral, I came across a reliquary containing the body of Saint John Southworth. Strangely enough, I never heard of this practice before – where the body of a saint is visible in this manner and available for veneration. I must confess, the sight initially disturbed me – as I’m sure it would disturb most people. I knelt by the reliquary to say a prayer, and while I was there, I read a little about the history of this person. Saint John Southworth was a Catholic priest who was martyred in 1634 at Tyburn. What was his offense? Simply, that he was a Roman Catholic priest. For this, he was executed – hanged, drawn and quartered, to be specific. I was aware of this method of execution, and I won’t go into the gruesome details here, but you can read more about it on Wikipedia. As I thought about his death, how he continued to be an active priest knowing the penalty (it was a penal offense in England from Elizabeth I until 1848 to be a Roman Catholic priest), my feelings became that of awe and admiration. What a strong faith this man had! How many people today have a faith this strong? I wondered if my faith would be strong enough to do the same. I hope so, I like to think so, but honestly, I’m not so sure.
This was just one event in my life that has had a lasting effect on me and my spiritual life. Whenever I hear someone say that they are Catholic and don’t go to Mass or that they find it boring … I think of Saint John Southworth. He didn’t find Mass boring – he died for it! Honestly, I believe there are many thousands of priests today who would do exactly the same thing if the situation presented itself.
Please pray for priests – that they may all have the faith and the courage as strong as Saint John Southworth.
The Devil at Work Online
by Mike on August 2, 2009
in Spiritual Matters
It happened in the mid to late 1990s when I had an AOL account. It’s been a while, so I apologize if some of the terminology is somewhat dated. One day, I received an email with a link to a pornographic website. I looked at the message header information and I got the impression that this email was composed and sent manually and not by some automated technique or spam. Anyway, I noticed that it was addressed to a few people other than me. Feeling that I was for some reason singled out, I decided to investigate a little. Now, recall that on AOL, you can choose to have personal profiles that can be searched by other members of the AOL community. After my little investigation, I realized a couple of things. First, and not all that surprising, I realized we all had profiles on our accounts. Second, and most important, was that we all had the word devil in our profile. You see in my profile, I had a quote from Saint (Padre) Pio of Pietrelcina ” Pray, Hope and Don’t Worry. ” So, here we see someone choosing to single out people of faith and tempt them.
I’ve often thought what would motivate someone to do something like that. Is it someone’s distorted idea of fun? Was this person hurt in some way by their church or perhaps felt betrayed by God?
What do you think? Have you experienced anything like this?
Creating PDF files for free
There are various ways to create PDF files, with the most expensive being purchasing a copy of Adobe Acrobat. There are various free tools out there that do a fine job of creating PDF files that you can post on your website, email to people, etc. I have been using a free tool called CutePDF for years – it’s easy to use and serves my needs perfectly. Once you download it and install it, it works like a printer – in other words, when you want to create a PDF file from Word, Excel, Visio, etc., you select File -> Print and just select the CutePDF “printer”. After clicking the OK button, it will prompt you for a name and location of the PDF file.
Keep in mind that free tools don’t have the same functionality as the paid ones – you can’t add or delete pages within an existing PDF document, for example.
Parish offices should seriously consider using tools like CutePDF instead of purchasing licenses of Adobe Acrobat. While non-profit organizations can get discounted software from various sources, free is still better than cheap!
Of the many things I’m involved in, one of them is the maintenance of my parish website. When the parish office decided to post a PDF copy of the bulletin online, I learned they bought a copy of Adobe Acrobat. I wish they had talked it over with me first.